Local Is Lekker: New South African Films

The remarkable local drama Krotoa(4/8) was inspired by real-life historical events and tells the story of a feisty, bright, young eleven-year old girl (Charis Williams), who is removed from her close-knit Khoi tribe to serve Jan van Riebeeck (Armand Aucamp), her uncle’s trading partner. She is brought into the first Fort, established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652. There she grows into a visionary young woman, who assimilates the Dutch language and culture so well that she rises to become an influential interpreter for van Riebeeck, who became the first Governor of the Cape Colony. Krotoa (Crystal-Donna Roberts) ends up being rejected by her own Khoi people and destroyed by the Dutch, when she tries to find the middle way between the two cultures. The film, written by Kaye Ann Williams and Margaret Goldsmid, was created by a dynamic team of women, with acclaimed filmmaker Roberta Durrant as director and producer. Roberta is the creator of various award-winning South African television series and sitcoms, as well as the children’s film, Felix, which won seventeen international film awards. The film has already won eight coveted awards, including an Award of Excellence at the International Film Festival for Women, Social Issues and Zero Discrimination; a Best of Show at the Depth of Field International Film Festival; a Platinum Award at the International Movie Awards; a Diamond Award at the Filmmakers World Festival; a Best of Show at the IndieFEST Film Awards; an Award of Excellence Special Mention: Women Filmmakers at the Accolade Global Film Competition; a World Platinum Award at the World Woman Awards and an award for Best Film at the Harlem International Film Festival held in New York. Watch the trailer

In the local comedy Finders Keepers (18/8) Lonnie and Brian go on the run from the Cape Town underworld, after finding a box filled with cash and a valuable wrist watch. They steal a lucky fish to barter with the gangsters. Directed by Maynard Kraak. With Dalin Oliver, Neels Van Jaarsveld, Lise Slabber. Watch the trailer.

Animation

InSon Of Bigfoot (11/8) teenage outsider Adam sets out on an epic and daring quest to uncover the mystery behind his long-lost dad, only to find out that he is none other than the legendary Bigfoot! He has been hiding deep in the forest for years to protect himself and his family from HairCo., a giant corporation eager to run scientific experiments with his special DNA. As father and son start making up for lost time after the boy’s initial disbelief, Adam soon discovers that he too is gifted with superpowers beyond his imagination. But little do they know, HairCo. is on their tail as Adam’s traces have led them to Bigfoot! This Belgian CGI-animated film is directed by Ben Stassen and Jeremy Degruson. Watch the Trailer

Action – Comedy

In the action crime-comedy Baby Driver (4/8), Ansel Elgort (The Divergent Series, The Fault in Our Stars) is a talented getaway driver who relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. After meeting the woman (Lily James) of his dreams, he sees a chance to ditch his criminal lifestyle and make a clean break. Coerced into working for a mob boss (Kevin Spacey), Baby must face the music as a doomed heist threatens his life, love and freedom.Written and directed by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End)Watch the trailer

In the action-comedy The Hitman’s Bodyguard (18/8) the world’s top protection agent (Ryan Reynolds) is called upon to guard the life of his mortal enemy, one of the world’s most notorious hit men. The relentless bodyguard and manipulative assassin have been on the opposite end of the bullet for years and are thrown together for a wildly outrageous 24 hours. During their journey from England to the Hague, they encounter high-speed car chases, outlandish boat escapades and a merciless Eastern European dictator who is out for blood. Action comedy film directed by Patrick Hughes and written by Tom O’Connor. With Gary Oldman and Samuel Jackson. Watch the trailer.

10 Days In Sun City (25/8) is the latest from Nigerian movie producer and actor comedian AY that is the 3rd installment of the hilarious ‘Akpos’ franchise (30 Days In Atlanta, A Trip To Jamaica). It is directed by award-winning South Africa-based Nigerian, Adze Ugah, written by Kehinde Ogunlola and produced by AY. The movie features celebrities such as 2face Idibia, Adesua Etomi, Mercy Johnson, Falz The Bahd Guy, Uti Nwachukwu, Yvonne Jegede, Alexx Ekubo and veteran actor, Richard Mofe-Damijo. Also featured are South African comedienne, Thenjiwe Moseley, Amanda Du Pont, Celeste Ntuli and a bit of Hollywood spice, Miguel Nunez Jr. Watch the Trailer

Chick Flick

In Girls Trip (4/8) four lifelong friends travel to New Orleans for the annual Essence Festival. Sisterhoods are rekindled, wild sides are rediscovered, and there’s enough dancing, drinking, brawling, and romancing to make the Big Easy blush.directed by Malcolm D. Lee. The film stars Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Larenz Tate.Watch the trailer

When her boyfriend dumps her, Emily (Amy Schumer), a spontaneous woman in her 30s, persuades her ultra-cautious mom (Goldie Hawn), to accompany her on a vacation to Ecuador in the action comedy Snatched (11/8). At Emily’s insistence, the pair seek out adventure, but suddenly find themselves kidnapped. When these two very different women are trapped on this wild journey, their bond as mother and daughter is tested and strengthened while they attempt to navigate the jungle and escape. Directed by Jonathan Levine and written by Amy Schumer, Katie Dippold, and Kim Caramele. Watch the trailer.

Women In Love

Below Her Mouth(11/8) is a bold, uninhibited Canadian drama that begins with a passionate weekend affair between two women. Jasmine is a successful fashion editor living with her fiance. On a night out in the city with her best friend, she meets Dallas, a roofer recently out of a relationship. Surprised by the confidence with which Dallas pursues her, Jasmine turns Dallas down but can’t get her out of her head. When Jasmine finally succumbs, the two women embark on a steamy affair that forces them both to re-evaluate their lives. Directed By Ang Lee from a screenplay by Jean-Christophe Castelli.Directed by April Mullen, the film stars Natalie Krill as Jasmine and Erika Linder as Dallas, two women in Toronto who meet and begin a passionate love affair. Watch the trailer

Drama

In A Family Man (18/8) a Chicago personnel recruiter (Gerald Butler) is hungry to stay on top of his competitive profession, but when his son (Max Jenkins) is diagnosed with cancer, his priorities are called into question. Directed by Mark Williams and written by Bill Dubuque. Watch the Trailer

In the thriller 2.22 (25/8) New York City air traffic controller Dylan Branson (Michiel Huisman) is the embodiment of a guy at the top of his game, until one day at 2:22pm, a blinding flash of light paralyzes him for a few crucial seconds as two passenger planes barely avoid a midair collision. Suspended from his job, Dylan begins to notice the increasingly ominous repetition of sounds and events in his life that happen at exactly the same time everyday. An underlying pattern builds, mysteriously drawing him into Grand Central Station everyday 2:22pm. As he’s drawn into a complex relationship with a beautiful woman who works in an art gallery, Sarah (Teresa Palmer), disturbingly complicated by her ex-boyfriend Jonas (Sam Reid), Dylan must break the power of the past, and take control of time itself. Directed by Australian filmmaker Paul Currie (One Perfect Day) and written by Nathan Parker and Todd Stein. Watch the trailer

Romance

In the American-British romantic drama My Cousin Rachel (11/8) a young Englishman (Sam Claflin) finds his cousin Ambrose dead after traveling to Florence, Italy. He vows revenge against Ambrose’s missing wife Rachel (Rachel Weisz), blaming her for his untimely demise. When Philip meets Rachel for the first time, his mood suddenly changes as he finds himself falling for her seductive charm and beauty. As his obsession for her grows, Rachel now hatches a scheme to win back her late husband’s estate from the unsuspecting Philip. Written and directed by Roger Michell. This dark romance is based upon the 1951 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. Watch the trailer

Horror

Several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home in Annabelle 2: Creation(18/8), soon becoming the target of the dollmaker’s possessed creation, Annabelle. Directed by David F. Sandberg, and written by Gary Dauberman. With Stephanie Sigman, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Miranda Otto.Watch the trailer

Live Theatre On The Big Screen

Marianne Elliott’s production of Tony Kushner’s stageplay Angels In America forms part of the NT Live S4eason and will be screened in 2 parts. Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches (19/8) is set in America in the mid-1980s. In the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell. Andrew Garfield (Silence, Hacksaw Ridge) plays Prior Walter along with a cast including Denise Gough (People, Places and Things), Nathan Lane (The Producers), James McArdle (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Russell Tovey (The Pass). This new staging of Tony Kushner’s multi-award winning two-part play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, is directed by Olivier and Tony award winning director Marianne Elliott (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and War Horse). Part One: Millennium Approaches was first performed at the National Theatre in 1992. Running Time: Part One is about 3 hours and 30 minutes, with two 15-minute intervals. Part Two: Perestroika, will be broadcast live from 2 September.

Exhibition On Screen: Art On The Big Screen

British Museum presents: Hokusai, a documentary and exclusive private view of the British Museum exhibition, Hokusai: beyond the Great Wave(5/8).The documentary will be screened at Ster-Kinekor Cinema Nouveau sites nationwide, the art cinema that promises a unique and inspiring cinema experience for film lovers with an appreciation of the beauty and artistry of film.Filmed in Japan, the US and the UK, British Museum presents: Hokusai focuses on the work, life and times of Katsushika Hokusai, painter and printmaker of the Edo (Modern Tokyo) period. Hokusai is regarded Japan’s greatest artist, who influenced Monet, Van Gogh and other Impressionists.The film uses spectacular close-ups and expert insights to show his wide-ranging influence and legacy. Using pioneering 8K Ultra HD video technology, Hokusai’s paintings and prints are examined by world experts who are at the forefront of digital art history.The famous volcano Mount Fuji, which was a model for Hokusai in his quest for immortality during his later years, appears in the background of his most famous painting, ‘The Great Wave’, an image depicting an enormous wave threatening boats off the coast.Known as the father of manga, his drawings, prints and paintings show Hokusai’s generous, all-embracing view of humanity. Interestingly, he is the only painter with his own emoji.Through much tragedy, and poverty, he never stopped striving for perfection in his work.The documentary is introduced by arts presenter Andrew Graham-Dixon, and features artists David Hockney, Grayson Perry and Maggi Hambling, along with leading scholars of the day. He was a master, and as Hockney put it, “He was a prodigy, like Picasso.”The running time is approximately 90 minutes, including an interval. The Hokusai releases on Saturday, 05 August, for four screenings only: on 05, 09 and 10 August at 19:30 and on 06 August at 14:30 at Ster-Kinekor’s Nouveau cinemas in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town, and at Ster-Kinekor Gateway in Durban. Book your seats here / Watch Trailer

The Exhibition On Screen documentary Renoir – Revered and Reviled (26/8) joins the longstanding debate over the merit of the artist’s ‘late period’ works. Was Renoir a self-indulgent fantasist? Or was Matisse right to declare his voluptuous female figures “the loveliest nudes ever painted”? Viewers will be able to decide for themselves, guided by a host of esteemed art experts and an up-close view of the collection itself. Watch the trailer

Western

The western thriller Brimstone (4/8) is a triumphant epic of survival and a tale of powerful womanhood and resistance against the unforgiving cruelty of a hell on earth. Our heroine is Liz (Dakota Fanning), carved from the beautiful wilderness, full of heart and grit, hunted by a vengeful Preacher (Guy Pearce) – a diabolical zealot and her twisted nemesis. But Liz is a genuine survivor; she’s no victim – a woman of fearsome strength who responds with astonishing bravery to claim the better life she and her daughter deserve. Fear not. Retribution is coming. A western thriller film conceived, written and directed by Martin Koolhoven. The film stars Dakota Fanning, Guy Pearce, Kit Harington and Carice van Houten. Watch the trailer.

History Revisited

Based on author David Grann’s nonfiction bestseller, The Lost City Of Z (11/8) tells the incredible true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam), who journeys into the Amazon at the dawn of the 20th century and discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization that may have once inhabited the region. Despite being ridiculed by the scientific establishment who regard indigenous populations as “savages,” the determined Fawcett – supported by his devoted wife (Sienna Miller), son (Tom Holland) and aide-de-camp (Robert Pattinson) – returns time and again to his beloved jungle in an attempt to prove his case, culminating in his mysterious disappearance in 1925. An epically scaled tale of courage and passion, told in writer/director James Gray’s classic filmmaking style, The Lost City of Z is a stirring tribute to the exploratory spirit and a conflicted adventurer driven to the verge of obsession. Watch the trailer

The biographical romantic drama Maudie (25/8) is based on a true story, the unlikely romance in which the reclusive Everett Lewis (Ethan Hawke) hires a fragile yet determined woman named Maudie (Sally Hawkins) to be his housekeeper. Maudie, bright-eyed but hunched with crippled hands, yearns to be independent, to live away from her protective family and she also yearns, passionately, to create art. Unexpectedly, Everett finds himself falling in love. MAUDIE charts Everett’s efforts to protect himself from being hurt, Maudie’s deep and abiding love for this difficult man and her surprising rise to fame as a folk painter. Watch the trailer

Crime

A police raid in the period crime drama Detroit (18/8) in 1967 results in one of the largest citizen uprisings in United States history. The story is centered around The Algiers Motel Incident, which occurred in Detroit, Michigan on July 25, 1967, during the racially charged 12th Street Riot. It involves the death of three black men and the brutal beatings of nine other people: seven black men and two white women. Period crime drama directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal based on the The Algiers Motel Incident. Watch the trailer

Espionage -thriller

Charlize Theron is Atomic Blonde (25/8), an undercover MI6 agent, sent alone into Berlin to retrieve a priceless dossier from within the destabilized city in an action spy thriller directed by David Leitch and written by Kurt Johnstad, based on Antony Johnston’s 2012 graphic novel. Equal parts spycraft, sensuality and savagery, willing to deploy any of her skills to stay alive on an impossible mission, she partners with embedded station chief David Percival (James McAvoy) to navigate her way through a deadly game of spies. Watch the Trailer